Great Han Empire

Chapter 175

Xiaohuaili is eighty miles away from Huaili City, the county seat of Youfufeng County, with Chengguo Canal to the north and Weishui River to the south.

Li Hong's 1 infantry troops were lined up on the plain, and the camp stretched for several miles, with banners fluttering in the wind and buzzing.Fengyun Iron Cavalry and Black Panther Righteous Cong [-] cavalry were all stationed ten miles away from the camp on standby.

Three days later, Taiwei Zhang Wen led an army of [-] troops and set up a camp ten miles away from Fengyun Iron Cavalry.

Li Hong and Xian Yufu went to see Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen is more than 50 years old, his face is rosy, there is not even a wrinkle on his face, and he looks very rich.He speaks slowly and softly, and treats people kindly, which makes people feel very cordial.When Zhang Wen saw Li Hong, he was also surprised by his youth.He smiled and told Li Hong that even he was a little jealous of Li Hong's talent and official luck, let alone many other ministers.It is also normal to feel dissatisfied because of jealousy, to say a few words of resentment, and to have unreasonable suspicions.

"Actually, most of the local officials who know you, the ministers of the court and the central government, praised you very much. Some time ago, when you were still marching on the road, I received a letter from Lord Liu, the prefect of Youbeiping. He Ask me to take care of you again and again. As far as I know, you haven't been in contact with Master Liu for very long."

Li Hong thought of Liu Zheng, and thought of Liu Zheng carefully straightening his long hair when he left Lulongsai. He felt sore and couldn't speak for a while.

Zhang Wen glanced at him and continued: "Master Liu values ​​you and appreciates you not because you were once his subordinate, but because you have done many things for the Great Han Kingdom in a down-to-earth manner, and you are indeed a loyal minister A fierce general, that's why he traveled thousands of miles to write to me to recommend you. There are fewer and fewer local officials like Mr. Liu who wholeheartedly care about the country and society of our great Han country."

Li Hong nodded vigorously.

Geng Bi, the governor of Liangzhou who was sitting on the side, said with a smile: "Brother Zhengnan also praised Li Zhonglang in front of the Taiwei, especially for your Fengyun iron cavalry, so this time the Taiwei put your cavalry in the first place." In the most important position, it can be seen that Lord Taiwei trusts and appreciates you."

Geng Bi was forty years old, with a kind face and well-dressed clothes, he seemed to be a very elegant person.After the former governor Yang Yong was dismissed by the court because of his failure to suppress the rebellion, he took over, but was immediately driven out of Longcheng, the prefecture of the governor's prefecture, by the rebels, and stayed in Huaili in Youfufeng.This time he played with Zhang Wen, ambitious to return to Liangzhou.

Hearing what Geng Bi said, Li Hong hurriedly stood up and gave another gift to Zhang Wen, expressing his gratitude.

Zhang Wen said with a wave, told him to sit back, and said with a smile: "Whether the Fengyun iron cavalry can block the Qianghu cavalry is the key to the final victory of this war. The first reason for assigning this important task to you is to believe in your strength. Zhengnan said, that day in Yingtao, you fought against an army of 10,000+ ant thieves with [-] bloody cavalry, and you won a complete victory, which shows the bravery of Youzhou cavalry."

"Secondly, because all the cavalry are now fighting on the front line, after they retreat in a hurry, they will definitely consume a lot of energy, and it will take time to regroup, so it is impossible to wait for work at leisure, so I specially arrange you to take on this important task."

Geng Bi took Zhang Wen's words and said, "Because of this incident, Lord Taiwei offended several subordinates. After the rebels are suppressed, you all have to thank Lord Taiwei."

Li Hong and Xian Yufu glanced at each other, thinking in their hearts whether this Lord Inspector was telling the truth or flattering Lord Taiwei.

Sang Yang hurriedly explained: "We have three iron cavalry on the Xiliang battlefield, all of which are very powerful. The iron cavalry of the Polu general Dong Zhuodong, the iron cavalry of the northern army leader Zhou Shenzhou, the Dangkou general, and the Liangzhou governor Geng's cavalry Among the three cavalry, the cavalry led by Lord Geng's army Sima Ma Teng is the most skilled. Both General Dong Zhuo and Army Sima Ma Teng have taken the initiative to ask Lord Taiwei to take their own troops to stop the Qiang Hu cavalry, but They were all rejected by the Taiwei."

Geng sneered and said to Li Hong, "Li Zhonglang's Yanzhao Knight will definitely not disappoint the Taiwei."

Li Hong immediately said a few bold words.

Zhang Wen chatted with him for a while, and then asked: "My son, what do you think our chances of winning this time are?"

Li Hong pondered for a while, and said in a low voice: "My lord, I don't know anything about the generals of the two sides participating in the battle, the combat capabilities of the soldiers of the two sides, and the current positions of the troops of the two sides, and the situation of the entire battlefield. I really have no way of guessing."

Zhang Wen looked at him in surprise.

Li Hong hurriedly explained: "My lord, what I don't know is that I don't know, and I can't talk nonsense. If you talk nonsense, it may affect your arrangement of the entire battle situation. Although I have a lot of information about Xiliang, that After all, it is information, and it is only for reference.”

Zhang Wen nodded appreciatively and said: "I asked many people, even those who had never fought, and they all sat in front of me and talked. Only you, why did you tell me that you didn't know? Many people wanted to let me know his This ability, citing scriptures and classics, made me dizzy. Good. The people are straightforward, good. If it weren’t for your outstanding military exploits and unique use of troops, I would have kicked you out.”

Geng Bi, Sang Yang, and Tao Qian, who were sitting with the officials, all glanced sideways at Li Hong, thinking that this man was not bad at fighting, but he acted like an idiot no matter how he spoke.Can this kind of person be a general?It's an incredible thing.Is there really such a thing as stupid people having stupid blessings?

"Why don't Li Zhonglang talk about it, just talk about it according to your intuitive opinion. What do you think our plan is lacking?" Tao Qian asked.He poured his heart and soul into the project and was eager to succeed.

Li Hong hesitated for a moment, then said: "If everyone implements this plan faithfully and without compromise, it will definitely succeed. The problem is..." He looked at Tao Qian's eager eyes, and suddenly remembered the pairing before leaving. What he said, he immediately swallowed the rest of the words.

"What's the problem? Why didn't Li Zhonglang say anything?" Zhang Wen asked curiously.

Li Hong hastily concealed: "The question is whether Bian Zhang and Han Sui will be fooled. If they get the news that our reinforcements have arrived in Chang'an, will they stop? Or join Beigong Boyu's troops in advance, 13 Thousands of people rushed over at the same time. If so, we would have no chance."

Zhang Wenwen and Tao Qian looked at each other, and they both laughed.

"In order to prevent the whereabouts of the reinforcements from being leaked, your marching route is specially arranged by us. You can avoid places where many people live together. After you arrive at Sansuke, you basically march at night. Therefore, the enemy knows you The possibility of reaching Youfufeng is very small." Zhang Wen said confidently.

Then they chatted for a while, Li Hong and Xian Yufu bid farewell and left.Tao Qian kept sending them out of the camp.

"Subject." Tao Qian suddenly grabbed him affectionately, and whispered, "You didn't tell the truth."

Li Hong smiled and said, "My lord is joking, how can I tell lies."

Tao Qian took a careful look at him, and said arrogantly: "When you told Lord Taiwei that you didn't know, I thought there was something wrong with you." Said it was an idiot, "but then you suddenly changed your tune. Do you think I can't see it?"

Li Hong smiled awkwardly: "Your Excellency must want to know?"

"Yes, tell me. Although this plan was decided by the Taiwei, I put a lot of effort into it. You must tell me, what's the problem?"

"My lord, do you think this plan is feasible?" Li Hong asked back.

Tao Qian was taken aback.Xian Yufu looked at Li Hong in puzzlement.What Li Hong said was a bit shocking.

"Zimin, what do you mean by that?" Xian Yufu asked in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense in front of Lord Sima."

Li Hong sighed, and said: "We are all from Youzhou, so it's okay to talk about it, I understand Master Tao can understand."

"Lord Taiwei's strategy itself is indeed very good and very successful. Although we have too few troops to encircle and annihilate the enemy, we are still sure to wipe out Bianzhang Han Sui's [-] troops. The problem is that Sir Taiwei is eager to pacify Xiliang , He always thinks it depends on a battle, he has forgotten what it means to fish out of the marsh."

Tao Qian looked at Li Hong and said with a smile: "Zimin, I didn't expect you to have such insights at such a young age. You have a different perspective and method of looking at problems. Not bad, not bad. I did question this plan at the beginning, but He is a Taiwei, what can I say?"

Xian Yufu immediately reacted.He asked cautiously: "My son, do you mean that the troops are not strong enough to carry out such a large-scale campaign?"

"Yes, if we have 30 troops, this battle will be easy." Li Hong said: "15 against the enemy's 16, and the first battle is to encircle and wipe out the [-] main force of the Xiliang rebels. This battle is too difficult to fight. Yes. The number of our troops participating in the encirclement and annihilation is too small to form an absolute advantage. Even if we win the border seal, it will be a miserable victory, and it will be difficult to defeat Beigong Boyu's fifty thousand cavalry."

"After this battle is over, the best outcome is that the Xiliang rebels will be completely wiped out by us, but we must be left with very little left. The final outcome is to let the Qianghu do harm to the Xiliang counties, and we have been fighting for a long time. For a long time, there is no army that can deter them. If the imperial court wants to form an elite army of tens of thousands of people to enter Xiliang to attack the rebel Qiang, it will require a lot of time and money, and the investment in the later stage will also be huge."

"If we don't carry out this big battle now, the troops will enter Xiliang in batches, move the battlefield to Hanyang, Jincheng counties, support each other, cover each other, divide and surround the Qianghu, divide and appease the rebels, and patiently look for opportunities. , the rebels will fail because they have no food and no support from the Qianghu.”

"In this way, our 10,000+ troops will survive, and we can continue to garrison the frontier. With troops and soldiers, we can solve many problems for the country."

"The 10,000+ rebels in Xiliang can also survive. With this 10,000+ population, Xiliang's total population will remain at around 60, and Xiliang can recover and develop. In the frontier, in Xiliang, there is no Even if the population is stabilized, it cannot develop. If it cannot develop, the people will be poor, and the local bureaucrats will become more corrupt in order to collect money. The result is self-evident. Therefore, it is very important to ensure the population of Western Xinjiang, which is to ensure the stability of Western Xinjiang fundamental."

"If everyone has no food to eat, the rebels will not be able to fight them all, and the Qiang Hu will not be able to fight them all. Look at the Yellow Turban Army in Jizhou, can they finish the fight? To solve the problem of the rebels, we must first solve their stomachs. Not their heads. Solving the Xiliang problem is like solving the Youzhou problem. We must focus on appeasement and attack as a supplementary method. The set of measures implemented in Youzhou can be copied to Xiliang. As long as the state and county officials implement it successfully, Xiliang will definitely gradually settle down."

(End of this chapter)